


of socks and promises

by angstycurl



Category: Running Man RPF
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-30
Updated: 2016-05-06
Packaged: 2018-06-05 13:07:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6705553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angstycurl/pseuds/angstycurl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It's just socks."<br/>"It's always something else to you."</p><p>Gary's gift to Jihyo from his visit to the States causes a big misunderstanding between the pretend-not-pretend couple. Inspired by events in Episode 291.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Gary couldn't lie to himself, or to her, even if he wanted to. He was nervous. He couldn't really figure out why until he walked out of his car hours later and Jihyo walked down the stairs before him.

Was it possible to be nervous about pretending to be nervous? Gary wasn't sure, but it was as close as he could possibly get to describing how he felt.

He never imagined how awkward a televised date with Jihyo would be. Not after the hundreds of untelevised dates they have been going on before this particular one. Yet he could've sworn he could freestyle effortlessly over the loud thumping of his heartbeats as the reality of this publicized date dawned on him.

This was a conversation the two of them never had the chance to stumble on. Sometimes, Gary imagined the worst of reasons. Maybe it wasn't chance, maybe Jihyo simply didn't want to get to this conversation. For whatever reason. Reasons Gary never wanted to delve too much into. Maybe he should have brought things up early. Maybe agreeing to a televised date was the wrongest time possible for fanservice. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

In truth, Gary thought, it could very well be a simple conversation. _Are we real?_ Yes. _We're just pretending that it's pretend?_ Yes.

But Gary was afraid. When it came to her, and their relationship, and their fake relationship, Gary had always been afraid. For one, he could never truly figure out which one came first. Secondly, Jihyo never made it easy for him either.

The only thing Gary was sure about regarding their little televised date for their little variety show was that they were taking their relationship to a whole new meta level. Now, they had to pretend that their pretend relationship, which had secretly developed into a real relationship years ago, was just starting to develop now, and then ridiculously and "scientifically" prove by the end of their pretend date that it could all very much be a "camaraderie" thing.

It was one of Gary's many frustrations with the producers of the show. What was the point of constantly teasing the fans about the Monday Couple if at the end of the day, they were to keep things vague? He couldn't understand it. To him, whether Monday Couple existed or not was an ancient debate.

He had won her over years ago. They had become "real" years ago. The teasing was part of an agreement with the producers for the sake of ratings. An agreement Gary could no longer comprehend.

Wouldn't the fans love it even more if they were to "come out" as a real couple on the show? Gary yearned for nothing more than this. He was sick of pretending. He had always been. Jihyo may be an actress, but Gary? All he wanted to do was make music and have a proper relationship he didn't have to hide.

So Gary devised a plan. He was going to one-up the producers once and for all. It was going to be subtle. It would be a wink to the fans. The most passive aggressive coming out of a hetero couple on television history.

Of course, he made sure Jihyo was in on it too. He just made extra sure that she wasn't completely and entirely in on it. He trusted her, that was for sure. He was just scared she would back out on it.

The matching socks.

Of course, he had given them to her weeks prior to the televised date. Why would he save such a meaningless pair of footwear for a date that wasn't supposed to be "real", anyway?

So he texted Jihyo about it. He told her how it would be "sweet" if they could repeat the socks thing for their televised date. He told her how it would please both the producers and the fans, because it wouldn't be something as serious as jewelry, but it would still count as a gesture.

They were just socks, after all.

He told her about the promise they would make onscreen. About wearing the socks on the next day.

She agreed. And then she agreed once more days later for all of South Korea to see.

Gary never imagined that Jihyo could forget something like socks.

Like a nightmare, she did. She really did forget the socks. His plan had failed, and once again, he was left guessing whether it was intentional on Jihyo's part - another of her teasing antics as agreed with the producers - or a genuine mistake.

 

* * *

 

Gary was out of words. When the taping of the new episode had finally wrapped, he quietly hopped off his stool and slinked away backstage.

He didn't need to turn around or ask who it was when he heard his name from somewhere behind him. Of course it would be _her_ , back with another of her millions of excuses.

True enough, Jihyo rushed towards him, gently pushing past a group of crew members trying to pack up the filming equipment. Jihyo was beaming, and for once, Gary wished she wasn't.

Of course, he didn't need to ask what was up. He didn't even feel the need to pretend to be civil with her. He turned around, his eyes fixed away from hers. He took off his cap lightly and began playing with it as Jihyo stopped in front of him.

"Oppa," Jihyo began, her smile unfading. "I'm really sorry about the socks."

He smiled bitterly as a couple of floor directors walked past. He waved her off. "That's alright, I should've seen it coming," he replied.

Jihyo grabbed him softly by the elbow. A little tug. Her smile was going now. "I didn't mean to, I promise," she pleaded, her voice way softer than before.

Gary fixed his cap back onto his head and gave Jihyo a little shrug before he turned and began to walk away.

"It's just socks," Jihyo hissed, walking fast behind him.

Gary stopped in his tracks. He smiled to himself, more for the sake of the other people around them than for him or for _her_. "It's just a game, it's just acting, it's just socks. It's always something else to you. _I'm_ always something else to you," he paused, sighing. "It was a promise, Jihyo-yah. That's what it really was," he concluded softly.

He didn't look at her. He didn't even turn towards her direction or anything. He continued walking, away from her, shaking his head. _Enough is enough_ , he thought.

He couldn't possibly look back. He didn't want to see her face then. Not out of anger or bitterness. As always, Kang Gary was scared. He was scared that if he turned around and saw what his soft, spiteful words had done to the woman he really cared about, he would take them back. And he would take her in his arms, and they would come home acting like nothing happened. Gary was a durable man, but even the strongest of them had their limits.

Acting. There was too much acting.

Gary was done and tired.


	2. Chapter 2

"Noona, I'm telling you," Kwangsoo grunted, sweat dripping down the sides of his face as he stood bent over Jihyo's television set, his eyes squinting at the darkness behind it. "They're not here!" He straightened up, his height towering over the smaller woman.

"They should be here!" Jihyo snapped, lifting the cushions off her couch and putting them back where they were, just to lift them again two seconds later as if the socks Gary had gifted to her was some silly peek-a-boo game. "I've searched everywhere!"

Kwangsoo wiped his forehead and plopped himself onto the couch. "Well - I have too!"

Jihyo had come home feeling terrible. Running Man tapings were usually her source of excitement and general joy, being able to do crazy things with the people she now considered family. But today, after her confrontation with Gary, she couldn't bring herself up to feel even the slightest tinge of optimism. The worst thing about this was, this was her greatest fear the night she had let Gary kiss her for the first time. The first of many dates. Who could have known their last date would have been a televised one?

Caution was one of Jihyo's constant mantras. She had said it the first time Gary asked, "Love?" out of the blue during a segment years ago. She knew men like Gary even if she didn't really know Gary at the time. She knew she wasn't the type to fall for bad boys, even if the idea of them always appealed to her. Real life was always different from her ideals, though.

She had thought, "Careful now," the first time the producers pitched the idea of a loveline between her and Kang Gary years ago. Jihyo was always careful.

It made her the Ace, and yet it was her constant caution that betrayed her. She wasn't as brave as she always portrayed herself onscreen. In fact, she was always afraid. To her, the fear was interchangeable with the caution. She was afraid because she was careful, and she was careful because she was afraid.

"It's not a big deal, noona," Kwangsoo suddenly said, getting up again. He scratched his head anxiously, looking around Jihyo's room. "It's just socks."

Jihyo snorted. She shook her head slowly, her eyes fixed to the floor below her. "It's more than that, Kwangsoo-yah."

She couldn't possibly disregard the way Gary had sounded when he finally walked away. She couldn't possibly forget that.

It always wounded Jihyo in some way whenever the members joked about how badly she treated her Monday boyfriend. She knew her image from the show, and how cool and distant she usually came off as. She never meant to - the Ace character wasn't something she deliberately wanted, and her Angry Birds theme song had always been one of those one-time things that really hit it off. She never wanted to be the distant and angry woman, the cold-hearted Monday girlfriend who never returned her boyfriend's feelings.

She had agreed to do the loveline, yes, out of curiosity and a willingness to expose herself to the all-new scape of variety. She had loved her guest appearance on Family Outing and knew that she could contribute more to shows like that. Running Man had come to her at a perfect time - but with a loveline deal.

She had of course agreed to it completely sure that she would never develop feelings for Gary. She half convinced herself the man would never gather the courage to really ask her out offscreen. She had banked on those things, and failed terribly.

Of course she fell for the bad boy. Of course she would say yes to him eventually, even though it took a while. And of course she couldn't have seen it coming.

Jihyo was extra careful since then. She made sure her onscreen persona was still in tact. She made sure Gary knew she was really into him and that it wasn't pretend, but that they still had to pretend in order to please the producers.

The only thing she never had full control over was what would happen if things went south with Gary and they still had to act lovey dovey onscreen. She had always feared the thought of it, and was always paranoid about bringing it up with Gary.

Now it was too late.

A pair of socks from the States had thrown them into this much feared situation, and for the first time in her life, Jihyo couldn't see a possible solution for her problem.

She couldn't even locate the damn socks.

"Noona," Kwangsoo's voice sounded distant, dragging her back into reality. Out of her head and her fears. "Noona, did you hear me?"

"What?" Jihyo asked, her voice soft. Not angry, not annoyed. She was just tired.

"I have to go now. I have an audition tomorrow."

Jihyo nodded. She shut her eyes as Kwangsoo walked feebly farther and farther away from her. She blinked as soon as she heard the door close. Again, she was alone.

She had called the younger man to aid her in her search, after hours of futile sleuthing. But something within her knew she also simply need the company. She hated crying - especially for men. But this was different because she had made a big mistake by forgetting.

Jihyo stayed standing in the middle of her apartment until a knock woke her from her standing trance. Her head jerked towards the direction of the sound - her door.

She walked lifelessly towards it. Her heart thumped wildly as she turned the knob, the metals inside clicking to unlock. Jihyo always knew better than to hold too high expectations. She knew it would never work out in her favor. And yet as the door slowly moved to open, the little voice in her head couldn't help but repeat the same two-syllabled word: Gary, Gary, Gary.

Please be Gary.

She didn't know what she would say or do if it were to really be him. All she knew was that she wanted to see him because maybe then her heartbeats would slow down. Maybe then it'd be harder for her tears to fall.

Jihyo could feel everything inside her collapse when her eyes crept slowly up the gap in the doorway, her brains registering Kang Gary's face as he stood with his hands behind him, outside her door. His face looked hard - unreadable.

"Oppa," Jihyo's voice came out in an airy squeak.

It took everything inside her to root her feet to the ground. She didn't want to upset him by flinging her arms around him or by telling him to go away. She didn't know what to do, but doing nothing felt like the best way to go at the moment. So she stood there as he stared sullenly into her face, his hard eyes boring into her teary ones.

"Yah," Gary's voice was gentle. It gave Jihyo a sort of childish reassurance as she took a welcoming step back. Gary entered, slowly closing the door behind him. "Have you been crying?"

Jihyo shook her head, her hand hurriedly rubbing the corner of her right eye. "No, oppa," she answered solemnly.

Gary sighed. He looked burdened with thoughts Jihyo didn't want to imagine. She didn't want to think of the worst, in case it was true.

"Is everything okay?" Jihyo balled her fists and asked. Her voice sounded unnecessarily loud in her own apartment, as if she was trying to convince not only Gary but herself that she was still in control. That she was still Ace Jihyo, somewhat.

Gary's face fell, his frown distorting his visage. Jihyo's beating eardrums could slightly catch another sigh escaping his lips.

"I know what you're going to say," Jihyo braved, taking a step closer towards him, mindlessly picking at the dead skin at the sides of her index nail. "But let me say it first: I'm sorry, I really am. I don't know what else I -"

It all happened so fast. One moment, she felt like he was worlds away - too far away from her - and the next, he had his arm around her as if he would disappear if he were to let go or loosen his embrace.

"Oppa?" Jihyo gasped, her question more air than sound.

"I'm sorry, Jihyo-yah," Gary's voice was quiet. It was so quiet Jihyo could've missed it if she had breathed too hard or if a bird had chirped out the window just then.

She pulled back gently, and her eyes fell on something that made her feel, quite literally, all the emotions in the world.

Gary was holding her socks. The pair of socks he had gifted her. The pair of socks she had promised to wear to the taping earlier today. Gary had them.

Almost immediately, she felt sad, and angered, and a slight tinge of joy, and a dreadful longing. But most prominent of all was her feeling of confusion.

How on Earth could her socks be with Gary?

And then it hit her.

And just as it did, something melted away in Gary's face. Immediately the air around them felt warm, and as ridiculous and as silly as it may sound, everything felt... funny.

Jihyo snorted, her hand covering the lower half of her face. Gary bit his lips to stop himself from grinning and just like that, the two found themselves again in each others' embrace.

"I found them under -" Gary began, his smile resonant in his bemused voice.

"Under your bed," Jihyo completed, laughing softly in his collarbone. "Because that's where you tossed them after our little 'date', right?"

The two laughed, hiding each others' faces in each others' shoulders, breathing in each others' fragrance.

Their little fight didn't last more than six hours, but they couldn't deny it. They missed each other. They quarreled a lot as a couple, they always have, but never a real fight. The two hated confrontations and misunderstandings and yet the darned pair of socks had been a great source of misunderstanding.

After all, how could they possibly forget crashing at Gary's place after parting with the Running Man producers at the end of their little televised date? How could they possibly put past them the moment after Jihyo waved her goodbye to her manager and closed the door behind her, how Gary had picked her up right then and there and how her legs immediately found home around his waist, how Gary was the one who took off her socks for her, using his fingers, using his teeth?

How could they forget?

"Let's wear them again next week," Gary suggested, a big grin surfacing on his face as he leaned in to her little face.


End file.
